Gateway South Transmission Line Map and Routes Available

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has identified the preliminary preferred route for the proposed Gateway South Transmission Line. The project, proposed by PacifiCorp (doing business as Rocky Mountain Power), is a 500-kilovolt, long-distance power transmission line originating in southeastern Wyoming, passing through Colorado and ending in central Utah. The proposed line would increase capacity and provide system redundancy, transporting renewable and conventional power.

The preliminary route is available for viewing on the BLM’s Gateway South project website at www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/documents/hdd/gateway_south.html. The BLM and cooperating agencies are analyzing the preliminary agency preferred route and alternative routes in the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS), which will be released in February 2014.

The DEIS is being prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act and will identify and document the potential effects of the project as well as a range of reasonable alternatives that may help avoid, minimize or mitigate for these impacts. Issues evaluated for each alternative include: cultural resources, fisheries, land use, special designations, use of existing utility corridors, vegetation, visual resources, and wildlife.

For more information, contact Tamara Gertsch, BLM National Project Manager, at tgertsch@blm.gov, or 307-775-6115.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2013, the BLM generated $4.7 billion in receipts from public lands.